Gardening, Photography & Home-Cooking are just a few of what I love doing!

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Tuesday, January 9, 2018

If only I had all the time in the world to just paint non-stop, that would be so awesome! But I don't see that happening anytime soon for I have a 21-month old toddler who is in constant motion and also a lot of house works that are endless!

Speaking of paintings, pictures above are what I painted for my boys several months ago to hang in their bedroom. I kind of felt bad that I was painting for other people and did not do any for them! So I asked them if they would like for me to paint them a picture and they both excitedly said yes. The oldest boy who is 11 years old picked out a picture of a tiger and my middle one who is 6 years old picked out a giraffe!

I really thought I wouldn't do a good job since I do not have that much experience painting with Acrylic, but in my opinion, the paintings are not so bad! They were both so happy when I finally finished! Now those pictures are hanging in their bedroom. I love seeing them every time I go in there! I really thought I'm not capable of painting detailed pictures like that, but I guess you'll never know unless you try! 😉😉😉

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

This is a Sponsored Post! All views and opinions are of my own!

Taking a long road trip can be very exhausting for the driver, and sometimes for the passengers as well especially when there are kids involved! I mean there is always that other option of taking a plane instead of driving, but where is the fun in that? I guess it depends on how of quick you want to get to your destination, or how much in a hurry you are!

Image from Cars.com

As for us, when we took a thousand-mile road trip to Florida last June, we planned on stopping some places to sightsee! Since we are not able to do an out-of-state trip like that often because it is expensive, we wanted it to be a very memorable one and we thought that driving a car and sightseeing would be just that! With 3 kids in tow, one who is 14-months old that time, we thought it would be a very chaotic ride, but to our surprised, it wasn't so bad at all! I'm very sure that the 2017 Dodge Caravan that we took had something to do with the pleasantness of the trip.

The same van in the picture above that you can find at Cars.com! I would recommend this exact vehicle, it is the perfect car for a long road trip like we had several months ago! It's a 7-passenger car with fold forward and seatback rear seats for extra room if you don't need it and many more features that you can read on Cars.com! This site will make your search for your next vehicle so easy and fast. You can compare prices from different car dealers, read reviews, estimate repairs or find a local service shop, you can even sell your old car online and many, many more!

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

I have never thought in a million years that someone would be interested in buying my paintings! Well technically, one of my friends requested if I could paint her a cow that she would really like to hang on their new home in the country! I hesitated at first becuase I didn't know if I was able to do it!

I'm really thankful to her for trusting me and believing that I have the ability to do it! I would say that she had more confidence in me than I do myself! LOL!

Picture above is the painting that she requested. It is an acrylic painting on an 18x24 stretched canvas. My friend seemed very pleased when she received it which I am very glad! I don't like disappointing people!

Anyway, a few weeks after this. Another friend of mine who lives in Canada also asked me I could paint something for her. This time I used oil paint on the same size canvas! Below is the painting that I did for her! This one is my original. I am really pleased with how it looks!

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Although I don't know how to play any musical instruments, that doesn't stop me from checking Guitar Center which is one of my favorite musical stores online because they always have a great deal here! I like to see what kinds of sales they have and at the same time wishing that I could play some kind of instruments!

One of my favorite desserts that I love to make in the summertime is what we call in the Philippines, Mango Float! Not only it is good, but it is also very easy to make! There are different recipes that you can find on the internet, but mine only had 5 ingredients: Mango, Graham Crackers, sweetened condensed milk, table cream and a drop or two of vanilla extract.

I mixed the sweetened condensed milk, cream and vanilla extract. There are some recipes that you can mix the mango with the condensed milk and cream mixture by chopping the mango. I like to separate the mango in mine and use it as another layer. Anyway, you take any kinds of square pan or container, you put the graham crackers first, cover the bottom of the pan, then spread the condensed milk/cream mixture on top of graham crackers and then thinly sliced of mango! You just repeat the process of however many layers you want! Just make sure you have enough mango to put on the very top! You can either refrigerate it or freeze it! Either way, it is a wonderful dessert for summer!!!

Thursday, June 15, 2017

The first time I have seen a moog minitaur bass synthesizer being played was on our local news on TV. I have never seen anything like it before, I thought it was such an odd and very unique looking musical instrument!

Anyway, seems like this particular musical instrument is getting really popular which is not surprising to me anymore since it does add a unique sound to the music! So if you are looking for one to add to your musical equipment collection, just click the link above!

Thursday, May 11, 2017

I have been making this Atsara or Atchara for several months now! What it is, it is basically a Filipino version of sauerkraut except that it is green papaya instead of cabbage. And it is pickled in white vinegar, sugar and veggies such as red peppers, carrots, ginger, garlic and sometimes raisins!

This is very easy to make, the hardest part is shredding the papaya. But if you use a food processor, it is a lot faster and easier!

Anyway, since making this the first time, I gave out a lot of samples to my friends to try out. Everybody loved it and urged me to make more to sell! So I have been making it for friends!

I am earning a little money from it, but I am more glad to know that I am able to help some of my friends that are missing this kind of food since it is not available anywhere. I am able to provide them this dish and among other Filipino foods and snacks that cannot be easily bought or obtained in any store when cravings strikes! Oh I know exactly how that feels! That is why I learned how to make these things!

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

When buying a yamaha guitar, there is only one place that I recommend to buy it and that is at Guitar Center, yamaha guitar! They always have a wide variety to choose from with very reasonable prices! From electric guitars to acoustic ones, they got it! So all you have to do is check them out and see if you can find the perfect guitar!

My daughter just turned a year old a few days ago. Since she's going to be the last kid we will ever have, hubby and I decided that we will throw her a little party since it is also her first birthday! I invited a few of my Filipino friends, so as expected, I fixed mostly Filipino food!

Pictures above are the food that I fixed. You can see Lumpia or what they call eggroll here, I also fixed what we call in the Philippines, Pancit or noodles cooked with veggies and meat. It is our tradition in the Philippines to have "Pancit" when there is a birthday, it signifies for long life! Also pictured are Humba or Pork Braised in brown sugar and vinegar, Dinuguan or Pork-Blood stew, some Filipino-style pork barbecue which is skewered in bamboo sticks and some Ginisang Batong or Sauteed Yard-Long Beans! And of course, you can never have Filipino food without rice! Yes, I cooked everything in the picture and yes it was a lot of work, actually a little stressful. But it was all worth it! I'm glad that I have a friend who helped me a lot, I could never thank her enough!

Anyway, this was the only time I was going to throw a party like this, next year it will just be a simple one like I have been doing for my boys!

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Looking for a specific product can sometimes be difficult, especially if it is from a well-known brand and is very sought-after. An example is this gibson j-45, check it out at MusiciansFriend.com before stock runs out! It might now be available somewhere else!

Well, my little lady is turning one year old in 5 days! Pictures above were taken earlier today. So these are the most recent pictures of my baby girl!

My goodness! It's just unbelievable how fast time can fly! It feels like it was just yesterday I have given birth to her and I blinked, and she's almost a year old!

My feelings are really mixed up! But one thing for sure, I am very, very grateful to GOD for giving me the opportunity to take care of this precious angel! I am really honored that I am trusted by God to be the mother of this sweet little angel!

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

There is no question about it that Ibanez is one of the best brands there is! My husband who loves to play electric guitar owned his first Ibanez guitar in the 90's, he still has it until now and still in very good shape! He plays with it at least once a week!

Anyway, in case you didn't know, wwbw has ibanez acoustic guitar on sale on their website right now. They have over 40 different ones for you to check out to find the perfect one that will suit your personality! So go check them out before sale runs out!

Sunday, March 19, 2017

My daughter is turning 1 year old next month! My husband and I thought of throwing her a little party since she's only going to be 1 year old once and we want it to be very memorable because we are not planning on having anymore kids in the future! It's not really a big, big party, I just invited a handful of my Filipino friends and their kids.

One of the activities that I have planned for the kids to do is a Pinata! Well, I had to make one from a pizza box which is pictured above from the left. I checked the prices at Walmart, it is just so expensive! An empty Pinata is almost $20 and then you have to buy the candies to go in it which is another almost $10. So I made my own which I think is cute, picture from the right is the finish product! I only had to pay for the tissue paper and of course the candy and toys that will go inside which will probably cost around $10! A $10 homemade Pinata is not so bad in my opinion!

I've learned to crochet a little over a year ago by watching youtube videos! I have never thought that I would be into crocheting until I got pregnant with my baby girl! I just didn't have any desire before. I always thought crocheting is hard to do and I have always been very impressed with those people who do an amazing job crocheting!

Little did I know that I would be interested in learning it and lo and behold, I am making my own design without watching vidoes or following patterns!

Picture above is the very first dress that I crocheted on my own. But the hat, I did watch a video on how to make floppy hat since I have never done one before! Now I know and it is not hard at all! I just love that it fits perfectly on my little girl! I am planning to let her wear the dress and the hat on her 10-month old pictorial next month! I can hardly wait!